In today’s world of financial and statistical modeling, you cannot survive without Microsoft Excel. Marketers use Excel every day, either to create a waterfall report, analyze data, or create an upcoming team meeting report. Using a mouse becomes tedious and repetitive, not to mention slowing the process down. Using shortcuts increases productivity, and saves time and money.

Here is a list of keyboard shortcuts to use when working in Microsoft Excel. They are easily learnt, and will help you breeze through those everyday functions.

MacOs users should look here for an excellent guide to shortcuts on your keyboard. Those using extended keyboards, where Home, End, Pg Up and Down keys are included, will find some functions are the same as for Windows.

General

1

Open Help

F1

2

Undo last action

Ctrl+Z

3

Redo last action

Ctrl+Y

4

Repeat last action

F4

5

Copy selected cells

Ctrl+C

6

Cut selected cells

Ctrl+X

7

Paste content from the clipboard

Ctrl+V

8

Display the Paste Special dialog box

Ctrl+Alt+V

9

Display Find and Replace

Ctrl+F

10

Display Find and Replace, replace selected

Ctrl+H

11

Find next match

Shift+F4

12

Find previous match

Ctrl+Shift+F4

13

Create embedded chart

Alt+F1

14

Create chart in new worksheet

F11

15

Toggle Autofilter

Ctrl+Shift+L

16

Activate filter

Alt+Down arrow

17

Insert table

Ctrl+T

18

Select table row

Shift+Space

19

Select table column

Ctrl+Space

20

Select table

Ctrl+A

File

1

Create new workbook

Ctrl+N

2

Open new workbook

Ctrl+O

3

Save As

F12

4

Print file

Ctrl+P

5

Open Print Preview window

Ctrl+F2

6

Close current workbook

Ctrl+F4

7

Close Excel

Alt+F4

8

Save workbook

Ctrl+S

Navigation

1

Move one cell right

Right arrow

2

Move one cell left

Left arrow

3

Move one cell up

Up arrow

4

Move one cell down

Down arrow

5

Move one screen right

Alt+PgDn

6

Move one screen left

Alt+PgUp

7

Move one screen up

PgUp

8

Move one screen down

PgDn

9

Move right edge of data region

Ctrl+Right arrow

10

Move left edge of data region

Ctrl+Left arrow

11

Move top edge of data region

Ctrl+Up arrow

12

Move bottom edge of data region

Ctrl+Up arrow

13

Move to beginning of the row

Home

14

Move to the last cell in worksheet

Ctrl+End

15

Move the first cell in worksheet

Ctrl+Home

16

Turn End mode on

End

Row and Column Selection

1

Select entire row

Shift+Space

2

Select entire column

Ctrl+Space

3

Select entire worksheet

Ctrl+A

4

Add adjacent cells to selection

Shift+Click

5

Add non-adjacent cells to selection

Ctrl+Click

6

Move right between non-adjacent selection

Ctrl+Alt+Right arrow

7

Move left between non-adjacent selection

Ctrl+Alt+Left arrow

8

Toggle Add-to selection mode

Shift+F8

9

Cancel Selection

Esc

Select Special

1

Display Go To dialog box

Ctrl+G

2

Select cells with comments

Ctrl+Shift+O

3

Select current region

Ctrl+A

4

Select current array

Ctrl+/

5

Select all different cells in row

Ctrl+\

6

Select column differences

Ctrl+Shift+|

7

Select direct precedents

Ctrl+[

8

Select all precedents

Ctrl+Shift+{

9

Select direct dependents

Ctrl+]

10

Select all dependents

Ctrl+Shift+}

11

Select visible cells

Alt+;

Entering Data

1

Enter data and move down

Enter key

2

Enter data and move up

Shift+Enter

3

Enter data and move right

Tab

4

Enter data and move left

Shift+Tab

5

Complete data entry and remain in cell

Ctrl+Enter

6

Enter same data in multiple cells

Ctrl+Enter

7

Insert current date

Ctrl+;

8

Insert current time

Ctrl+Shift+:

9

Fill down from cell above

Ctrl+D

10

Fill right from left cell

Ctrl+R

11

Copy formula from above cell

Ctrl+’

12

Copy value from above cell

Ctrl+Shift+â€

13

Add hyperlink

Ctrl+K

14

Display AutoComplete list

Alt+Down arrow

15

Flash fill

Ctrl+E

Formatting

1

Format anything

Ctrl+1

2

Display format cells with font tab selected

Ctrl+Shift+F

3

Apply / Remove bold formatting

Ctrl+B

4

Apply / Remove italic formatting

Ctrl+I

5

Apply / Remove underscoring

Ctrl+U

6

Apply / Remove strikethrough formatting

Ctrl+5

7

Align Center

Alt+H+A+C

8

Align left

Alt+H+A+L

9

Align right

Alt+H+A+R

10

Indent

Alt+H+6

11

Remove indent

Alt+H+5

12

Increase font size by one step

Alt+H+F+G

13

Decrease font size by one step

Alt+H+F+K

Number Formatting

1

Apply general format

Ctrl+Shift+~

2

Apply currency format

Ctrl+Shift+$

3

Apply percentage format

Ctrl+Shift+%

4

Apply scientific format

Ctrl+Shift+^

5

Apply date format

Ctrl+Shift+#

6

Apply time format

Ctrl+Shift+@

7

Apply number format

Ctrl+Shift+!

Borders

1

Add border outline

Ctrl+Shift+&

2

Add / Remove right border

Alt+R

3

Add / Remove left border

Alt+L

4

Add / Remove top border

Alt+T

5

Add / Remove bottom border

Alt+B

6

Add / Remove upward diagonal border

Alt+D

7

Add / Remove horizontal interior border

Alt+H

8

Add / Remove vertical interior border

Alt+V

9

Remove all borders

Ctrl+Shift+_

Formulas

1

Open the insert function dialog box

Shift+F3

2

Autosum selected cells

Alt+=

3

Toggle formulas on and off

Ctrl+â€˜

4

Insert function arguments

Ctrl+Shift+A

5

Enter array formula

Ctrl+Shift+Enter

6

Calculate all worksheets

F9

7

Calculate active worksheet only

Shift+F9

8

Force calculate all worksheets

Ctrl+Alt+F9

9

Evaluate formula

F9

10

Expand / Collapse the formula bar

Ctrl+Shift+U

11

Display function arguments dialog box

Ctrl+A

12

Define name

Ctrl+F3

13

Define name using row and column labels

Ctrl+Shift+F3

14

Paste name into formula

F3

15

Accept function with autocomplete

Tab

Grid Operations

1

Display insert dialog box

Ctrl+Shift++

2

Insert rows

3

Insert columns

4

Display delete dialog box

Ctrl+-

5

Delete rows

6

Delete columns

7

Delete cells

8

Delete contents of selected cells

Delete

9

Hide rows

Ctrl+9

10

Hide columns

Ctrl+0

11

Unhide rows

Ctrl+Shift+9

12

Unhide columns

Ctrl+Shift+0

13

Group rows / columns

Alt+Shift+Right arrow

14

Open Group dialog box

15

Ungroup rows / columns

Alt+Shift+Left arrow

16

Open Ungroup dialog box

17

Hide / Show outline symbols

Ctrl+8

18

Zoom In

Ctrl+Alt++

19

Zoom Out

Ctrl+Alt+-

Pivot Tables

1

Select entire pivot table

Ctrl+A

2

Group pivot table items

Alt+Shift+Right arrow

3

Ungroup pivot table items

Alt+Shift+Left arrow

4

Hide pivot table items

Ctrl+-

5

Create pivot chart on same worksheet

Alt+F1

6

Create pivot chart on new worksheet

F11

7

Open pivot table wizard

Alt+D+P

8

Toggle pivot table field checkbox

Space

Workbook

1

Insert new worksheet

Shift+F11

2

Go to next worksheet

Ctrl+PgDn

3

Go to previous worksheet

Ctrl+PgUp

4

Move to next pane

F6

5

Move to previous pane

Shift+F6

6

Go to next workbook

Ctrl+Tab

7

Go to previous workbook

Ctrl+Shift+Tab

8

Minimize current workbook window

Ctrl+F9

9

Maximize current workbook window

Ctrl+F10

10

Select adjacent worksheets

Shift+Click

11

Select non-adjacent worksheets

Ctrl+Click

12

Toggle scroll lock

ScrLck

Cell Edit Mode

1

Edit the active cell

F2

2

Insert / Edit comment

Shift+F2

3

Cancel Entry

Esc

4

Select one right character

Shift+Right arrow

5

Select one left character

Shift+Left arrow

6

Move one word to right

Ctrl+Right arrow

7

Move one word to left

Ctrl+Left arrow

8

Select one right word

Ctrl+Shift+Right arrow

9

Select one word left

Ctrl+Shift+Left arrow

10

Select to the beginning of cell

Shift+Home

11

Select to the end of the cell

Shift+End

12

Delete to end of line

Ctrl+Delete

13

Delete character to the left of cursor

Backspace

14

Delete character to the right of cursor

Delete

15

Start a new line in the same cell

Alt+Enter

Active Cell

1

Select active cell only

Shift+Backspace

2

Show the active cell on worksheet

Ctrl+Backspace

3

Move active cell clockwise in selection

Ctrl+.

4

Move active cell down in selection

Enter

5

Move active cell up in selection

Shift+Enter

6

Move active cell right in a selection

Tab

7

Move active cell left in a selection

Shift+Tab

Ribbon

1

Expand / collapse ribbon

Ctrl+F1

2

Activate access keys

Alt

3

Move to next ribbon command

Tab

4

Activate / open selected control

Space

5

Control / confirm changes

Enter

6

Get help on selected control

F1

Dialog Boxes

1

Move to next control

Tab

2

Move to previous control

Shift+Tab

3

Move to next tab

Ctrl+Tab

4

Move to the previous tab

Ctrl+Shift+Tab

5

Accept and apply

Enter

6

Check / Uncheck box

Space

7

Cancel / Close the dialog box

Esc

Miscellaneous

1

Open spelling dialog box

F7

2

Open thesaurus dialog box

Shift+F7

3

Open Macro dialog box

Alt+F8

4

Open VBA editor

Alt+F11

5

Duplicate object

Ctrl+D

6

Snap to grid

Alt

7

Hide / Show objects

Ctrl+6

8

Display Modify cell style dialog box

Alt+’

9

Display right-click menu

Shift+F10

10

Delete comment

Shift+F10+D

11

Display control menu

Alt+Space

Working comfortably and competently with Microsoft Excel is important to make the most out of the world’s #1 tool for business, financial and statistical analysis. You can also refer to these links for a variety of Excel-related situations: